Weekend workshop for your Instagram videos

Carry along smartphones, selfie sticks, tripods and other shooting accessories to a weekend workshop to get a creative edge for your Instagram videos

Ever watched videos by Instagram stars and wondered how they get it right? From creating holiday video clips to making videos about food and figuring out social media apps like Snapchat and Instagram, Instagrammers, Kuber Shah and Meghna Girohtra will share simple ways to get creative with videos on your phone. “In 2011, I had noticed a palpable buzz among my iPhone-toting colleagues, who shared the earliest Polaroid-inspired photos on Facebook, created on Instagram.

In 2012, the Android version was launched and I became addicted to Instagram. Quickly, I forged friendships with fellow photography enthusiasts in Mumbai, Bangalore and Delhi. It transformed the way I travelled since December 2012,” says Girohtra, a digital marketing expert, who specialises in shareable and branded content and is founder of Mumbai Instagrammers, a city-based InstaMeet group, formed in 2013, that conducts photo walks regularly.

Kuber Shah and Meghna Girohtra (standing) at an earlier workshop

“After conducting more than 50 photowalks in the city in the last three years, I felt our community was ready to collectively up the ante on our skills. Paid workshops were initiated in April this year, with subject matter spanning photography for beginners, food photography, editing tools, wedding photography and now, our video-making one,” she adds.

Shah, her co-host at the workshop, is a photographer and social media consultant, who specialises in video and photographic content. He took to the app a few years later. “In 2013, after living in Berlin for 12 years, when the time came for me to leave, I wanted to bring a lot of memories with me. I started taking pictures of my street and archiving everything from my daily routine through Instagram,” says Shah, adding that the idea of the workshop originated with the need to offer something different. “Many offer summer workshops on photography but none on video,” he says.

Don’t most people use Instagram for photos as opposed to videos? “Yes. But it will soon change. With the numerous effects available and the possibility to bring moments alive, videos on social media are going to be the next big thing. Even Instagram has introduced one-minute videos now,” says Shah. Girohtra agrees, “Globally, there's been a surge in Instagram videos. We’re still catching up in India with most Instagrammers shying away from it. That’s a key reason for us to organise this workshop. With the more recent 60-sec format on Instagram, we can actually showcase storytelling (versus the earlier 15/30 second-formats),” she shares.

The workshop will look at holiday videos, street scenes, stop motion and effects like time lapse and slow motion. Post the workshop, participants will be divided in groups and given different themes to shoot and they can venture out and take impromptu videos based on what they have learnt.

Three key factors while making a video

1. Stability} Hold it steady.2. Light}Explore different light sources; each has its own merits from a storytelling standpoint.3. Sound} Always a challenge in India, as we have ambient noise nearly everywhere.

How to be a star on instagram>> Create content around the video, prior to sharing the actual video, with write-ups and photographs.>> Connect with the viewers.>> Frame a narrative that links the video to anecdotes, people and places depending on the subject.>> Use the relevant hashtags on Instagram, Facebook, Vimeo, YouTube and Twitter>> If you’re serious about creating video content regularly, set up a posting schedule after you’ve built a base audience of a few hundred followers. Long gaps tend to leave followers uninterested.>> Keep it precise

Some unusual insta stars

Helen Van Winkle is 87 years old. Nicknamed Baddie Winkle, the octogenarian has 1.1 million Instagram followers, the allegiances of Nicole Richie and Miley Cyrus (who invited Winkle to join her at the MTV Video Music Awards) in 2016.

Jefree Star is known for his fashion line, Beauty Forever, and transgressive, gender-bending appearance and persona. He also has a make up line Jeffree Star Cosmetics.

Three-year-old New York toddler London Scout is already making a splash in the style world. With a popular blog and 50k-follower Instagram account, the little fashionista impresses kids and adults everywhere with her adorably fierce outfits.